PATH OF THE

PLANETS

The planets in January 2017

DRA
UMa

Comet Johnson
(C/2015 V2)

Objects visible before dawn

LYN

HER

CYG

BO

LYR

Asteroid Vesta reaches

opposition on January 17

CrB
COM

VUL
DEL

GEM

Irene
Metis

SGE
SER

AQL

AUR

LMi

CVn

LEO

ORI

CNC

Amphitrite

CMi

Eunomia

EQU
AQR

SER

OPH

CAP

Pluto

SCT

SEX

c)
lipti
n (ec

Jupiter
Su
f the
o
h
t
Pa
Comet PANSTARRS CRV
(C/2015 ER61)

Saturn

Sun

VIR

LIB

CRT
CM A
LEP

Mercury appears bright

in the morning sky in the
latter half of January
LUP

SGR
MIC

MON

HYA

ANT

PUP
COL

VEL

TEL

Moon phases

PYX

Dawn

Midnight

To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase shown for the day straight up to the curved blue line.
Note: Moons vary in size due to the distance from Earth and are shown at 0h Universal Time.

28

27

The planets
in the sky

26

25

24

23

22

21

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

These illustrations show the size, phase, and orientation of each planet and the two brightest dwarf planets at 0h UT
for the dates in the data table at bottom. South is at the top to match the view through a telescope.

Uranus

Mercury
Mars
S
W

Pluto

Saturn

Ceres
10"

Planets

40

Neptune
Jupiter

Venus

MERCURY

VENUS

MARS

CERES

JUPITER

SATURN

URANUS

NEPTUNE

PLUTO

Date

Jan. 15

Jan. 15

Jan. 15

Jan. 15

Jan. 15

Jan. 15

Jan. 15

Jan. 15

Jan. 15

Magnitude

0.2

4.6

1.0

8.8

2.0

0.5

5.8

7.9

14.3

Angular size

7.3"

25.1"

5.4"

0.5"

37.0"

15.3"

3.5"

2.2"

0.1"

Illumination

53%

50%

91%

97%

99%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Distance (AU) from Earth

0.925

0.666

1.734

2.643

5.321

10.868

19.989

30.638

34.226

Distance (AU) from Sun

0.394

0.721

1.422

2.819

5.456

10.049

19.939

29.951

33.252

Right ascension (2000.0)

18h05.5m

22h53.7m

23h23.7m

1h41.2m

13h23.9m

17h28.4m

1h16.4m

22h46.9m

19h14.0m

Declination (2000.0)

2122'

721'

437'

329'

723'

2157'

726'

839'

2121'

A ST R O N O M Y JA N UARY 2017

11

This map unfolds the entire night sky from sunset (at right) until sunrise (at left).
Arrows and colored dots show motions and locations of solar system objects during the month.

Jupiters moons

Objects visible in the evening

PER

LAC

AND

CYG

TRI

LYR

ARI

VUL

PEG

TAU

Path o
f the M
oo

PSC

DEL

Comet 2P/Encke

Uranus

Celestial equator

EQU

Ceres

Ve
n

Ma

us

rs

Melpomene

SGE
AQL

Io
Europa

Ganymede
Callisto

1
2

AQR

Neptune

Comet 45P
CET

SCT

3
4

Sun

Venus appears farthest from

the Sun in Januarys evening sky
FOR

ERI

SER

Dots display positions

of Galilean satellites at
4 A.M. EST on the date
shown. South is at the
top to match
S
the view
E
through a W
N
telescope.

PsA

SGR
MIC

CAE
PHE

Jupiter

CAP

GRU

Early evening

Callisto

9
10

31

29

28

27

26

11
12

Europa

13

The planets
in their orbits

Venus
Greatest eastern elongation
is January 12
Earth
Perihelion is January 4

Arrows show the inner

planets monthly motions
and dots depict the outer
planets positions at midmonth from high above
their orbits.

Ceres
Mars

Jupiter

14
15

Ganymede

16
17

Io

18
19
20
21
22
23

Mercury
Greatest western elongation
is January 19

Uranus

24
25
26
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

10

30

27

Jupiter

28

Neptune
Saturn

Pluto
Solar conjunction
is January 6/7

29
30
31

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM

41